Campus Target » Riley

Eight Busses!

Sarah — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:37:40 +0000

Happy Easter! I want to fill you in on our last trip to Hong Kong and the time we spent with our fellow workers down in GZ. Our trip began early in the morning as we made our way to the airport to fly to GZ and meet our friends. After taking countless subways and a train, we made our way through customs and into HK. That night we enjoyed some delicious western (HK) food, shopping, and site seeing. We took a ferry to the main island, where we took a double decker tour bus through the city followed by a tram up the mountain to see the entire landscape. What a beautiful city! The end of our trip was like déjà vu of our last trip as we ran through the subway system, rushed through customs, and sprinted through the train station. Unfortunately, the majority of us missed the train by about ten minutes. We found a guy to drive us there, and the nine of us and the driver crammed into a minivan for the two hour drive from SZ to GZ. After taking eight, yes eight, different forms of transportation in less than twenty-four hours, we finally made it back to our friend’s apartment. Following our very fun but exhausting day, we got some wonderful rest that night. The next day our friends took us out to see their city and the campus they work on. It was a great day of fun and fellowship. We even got to meet one of the girls that they led to know Dad.

We are now back in the Du and keeping busy. Our sisters were not free this week because of the tomb sweeping festival, but our schedules have still been as full as ever. My roommate, Charity, turned twenty on Tuesday and we celebrated another teammate’s birthday today.

We had the chance to share the story with another eight girls these past two weeks. None of them accepted, but some seemed to be interested in hearing more. Ask Dad to grow the seeds we planted and soften their hearts to the truth. We only have another five weeks here in cland. I will keep you updated as the adventures continue and the Father moves in the lives of our friends. I miss you all and hope you will encounter Dad in a new way this resurrection season!

Changing seasons

Sarah — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:36:03 +0000

Hello friends! The whether is starting to turn and we even get to see the sun every now and then. Our friends told us a joke that here in Chengdu, summer and winter loved each other, so they kicked out spring and fall so they could be tohether. It seems to be true! On Tuesday I wore my winter coat to class, and then on Saturday we were wearing shorts, tanks, and flip flops. There really is no inbetween!

Since my last letter, we had the chance to dunk another sister. Ariel accepted Dad a few weeks ago. I am really excited to see how much she grows in Dad before we have to head home.

Last week Charity and I went to visit our sisters Julie and Crystal at their campus, *Du University of Technology. After an hour bus ride there, they showed us around their campus and took us to dinner. I have really come to love these girls. We are beginning the transition into making them group leaders of all our other sisters after we return home. Dad will use them to carry on the mission and the movement long after we leave. Their knowlegde and passion encourages me everytime we see them. Lift them up to Dad, that He will deepen their relationship and strengthen their faith.

Charity and I have shared the story with over twenty more girls these last two weeks. Although we are not bringing in the harvest, we continue to do our job believing that Dad will water the seeds.

I know that Dad is working deeply in my life, but that comes with a price. The last few weeks have been some of the most difficult I have experienced since being over here. I have struggled through depression, anxiety, and loneliness like never before. I lost all joy in what I am doing here. I was annoyed with teammates, angry, and frustated, and I did not really know why I was feeling that way, which made me more angry and frustrated. I was on the verge of burning out completely. But I serve a faithful Father, who was holding me the whole time. After talking through some things with one of my leaders, we were able to pinpoint where some of the anxiety and depression was coming from. Dad has given me new patience for my teammates and an apprectiation for them as Dad uses them to make me look more like him. He has been teaching about where I need to keep my focus. I am looking forward to coming home, which makes it hard to be here still. But I need to keep my eyes on him as I run the homestretch. Looking here or there will not satisfy me. My hope needs to be in him alone. As one of my favorite songs goes:
“Turn your eyes upon J, look full in his
wonderful face, and the things of earth
grow strangely dim, in the light of his
glory and grace “
I am counting down the days til I come home, but I know my work here is not done yet. He will give me the strength and the grace to finish strong. Please conintue to think of me and lift me up. Ask Dad to give me stregth, grace, patience, and encouragement through His Spirit.

Dunking party

Sarah — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:40:44 +0000

It has been another busy few weeks here in the Du. Our first day back to work from break, we met three girls and we made plans to meet with for lunch the next day. While eating some delicious dishes at one of our favorite nearby places, we shared with them the story of JC. They seemed to be very interested but had many questions for us. We spent the next two hours answering their questions, and at the end of our meeting with them, two of the girls, Amy and Ariel, made the decisions to follow Dad! We have been able to meet with them once since then and walk them through some stuff about Dad and the book.

A few days ago, we had the privilege to dunk another sister. We dunked Julie back at the beginning of January. Crystal made the decision the same night we dunked Julie was dunked herself this week. What a powerful night! We wanted to help Julie be confident in what we have been teaching her, so we asked her to be the one to put her dear friend under the water. It almost brought tears to my eyes to watch these girls share yet another powerful experience together. The presence of the HS was amazing as Julie and Crystal encountered Dad and moved forward in their relationship with him.

Since Amy and Ariel accepted, Charity and I have had no more decisions, but have had the chance to share with over 20 more of our friends. Dad is moving so much here. I have lost track of how many new brothers and sisters we have had in the last three weeks. I think maybe somewhere around 30! The Du had 6 last week alone, and our friends down south in GZ had 9! Dad is bringing his children home!

I have had the chance to enjoy some oh so delectable foods here in the last few weeks, including frog meat and pig liver. I graciously declined my opportunity to eat chicken feet. My lovely valentines day date with Charity and Karen thankfully included none of the above.

This week two of our friends took us to the Science Museum. For those of you from Syracuse, It was like going to the MOST, only it was ten times bigger. I know I have changed a lot these last seven months, but if you were worried I might come home and be really mature and what not, you don’t have to worry anymore. I assure you I am still my crazy self and I still embarrass myself in a daily basis.

Dad has really been doing a lot of work in my life lately. I won’t sugarcoat it, it has been really tough. But I am beginning to see some of the product of all the things he has brought me through, and that is encouraging. I started a 90 day reading plan to read through the entire book before I come home. Dad has been blowing my mind and teaching me so much about his faithfulness through the stories that I have not read in so long. If I had to describe my walk with Dad in a few words it would be “from one valley to another valley.” Sometimes I feel like I miss the mountain tops that make the valleys exist. But I think the biggest thing Dad has taught me this year is what my attitude should be when I am in even the deepest valley. I might not, and honestly usually do not, understand why he is bringing my through a specific valley. I so often strive to figure why I am there, what he is trying to teach me, and especially how I can get out of that valley. But he has built up in me a trust like I have never experienced before. I stopped striving to get out or to figure out why I was there. He has taught me that I do not need to figure out why, or try to find my own way out. I do not need to understand, I just need to trust him. That has definitely become a mark of my life. Our Father has become the rock that I stand upon that truly cannot be shaken. No matter what comes my way, or what valley he chooses to bring me though, I know he is my foundation!

Life is a whirlwind over here, but it is worth! As always, I am very excited to see what Dad is going to do in these last ten weeks here. Please ask Dad for continual protection from attacks from the enemy. Also ask for motivation and perseverance to finish this season strong. I have been experiencing culture shock over again these last few weeks. Probably just another trick of the enemy, but it is really starting to take its toll on me and wear me out. Ask Dad to daily give me a heart for the Chinese people, and the strength to complete the task he has set before me.

Stories

Sarah — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:32:55 +0000

Well, we haven’t gotten locked out of our apartment recently, which is wonderful. We now have metal gates over our windows to prevent people from breaking in (which came up after we had to break into our own apartment). We also have a brand new 32 inch flat screen TV, which our landlord bought when we showed her that the one here didn’t work.
Although we had some trouble meeting up with friends, I had an amazing week with just me and God. He’s really showing me a lot about myself. We have been discussing the Holy Spirit lately and yesterday I was floored by His presence. God opened my eyes up to some lies that I had been believing for about a year and a half without ever realizing that’s what I thought. Do you ever have those moments when if you had the chance, you would punch the enemy right in the gut? Well, yesterday I would have roundhouse kicked him in the face if I could. He’s so sneaky. But now I know the truth, and it’s such a freeing feeling. Praise The Lord! He’s so faithful and loving.
Last week we had the chance to play some soccer. It was 8 of us white folks and one Asian boy against 9 Asian high school boys. I can proudly say we destroyed them, I think 9-2. They were all smaller than me, so it was fun to push them around a little. They weren’t used to playing with girls, and didn’t exactly know how to react when I ran into them. It was a nice to play sports, I miss it.
We started classes at our tutoring school. We go every Tuesday and Thursday morning for an hour a half. It’s fun learning, but quite difficult. It’s very nice to be able to communicate the little that we can, like ordering food. I have been trying to go running in the morning. I thought people stared before. They stare even more when I go running past them. They’ don’t really run here, in fact, I’ve never seen any natives jogging.
Last Sunday we had a girl’s night and were able to share with seven girls. We found out that one of them is a sister, which was exciting. We met with just her yesterday and were able to talk with her and teach her some things. I can’t wait to meet with her again!

Last week was one of our American friends birthdays so we all had the chance to go to KTV, which is Chinese karaoke. It is much more popular here, and quite a bit different. We paid a flat price and got our own room for about five hours. It was a blast singing and dancing, hanging out, and embarrassing ourselves (at least I did).
Today we took the bus to the new campus to meet with our friend Sadie, at least that’s what we thought. She is part of a school club, the environmental protection club to be exact. We ended up joining them, setting up and decorating for the meeting, followed by playing games with about 50 students. I really enjoyed myself, and we were able to meet some new friends.
Two days ago I was stopped entering my apartment by two guys who said hello, followed by something I didn’t understand. He then held up his hand, representing that I was taller than him, which he found hilarious. Being a foreigner here never changes.
It has been a great few weeks here in the Du. Life finally feels rather normal to me now. God is moving like crazy here. I have lost count of brothers and sisters. I am very excited to see what he continues to do in the University and in my life.

Curious George goes to C-land

Sarah — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:32:01 +0000

Boy do I have a story to tell you all, and according to my mom, it sounds like a story straight out of a Curious George book. We are encouraged to have a date night once a week with our roommate, which we decided to do last night. On our way out I asked Charity if she had her keys because I didn’t have mine. She said yes and we left for our wonderful dinner, which was amazing. The food here is incredible. But that’s a different story. We came back and Charity soon realized she did NOT have her keys in her purse like she thought. We were locked out of our apartment! We thought maybe our gate keeper might have an extra key or something. We called our friend and handed the phone to the guy sitting in the office, which wasn’t our normal gate keeper. After waiting a few minutes we got the phone back and our friend said “he doesn’t know what to do, he’s only in there to watch tv.” Really? So now we really don’t know what to do, we decided to just wait for our real gate man to come back. That guy started talking to some people outside our gate. I’m pretty sure they started laughing at us, but I don’t know what they were saying. He then comes back and tries to talk to us again, and everyone follows. Suddenly we’re surrounded by seven or eight Chinese people yelling (they like to yell, not talk) at us and each other. A college student and her parents who live in our complex came walking in, and she stopped and asked if she could help because she spoke some English. I said YES! I told her what was going on, and she said we should call the police because they could help us and it would be legal (as opposed to picking it illegally). We still don’t know where our gate keeper is, and we don’t have our landlords number because it’s inside our apartment.
So the girl, her name is Jordan, called the police for us and said they’d be here in a few minutes. After a few, two officers show up, with uniforms and flashing lights. By now there like twelve people just standing around watching the scene the two stupid Americans created. The officers ask us for our lease, to which we said it’s in our apartment. They ask for our passports, which are also inside, but we do carry a color copy of it in our wallets so we gave them that. Jordan keeps talking to them and then tells us that they’re superior is coming. So we wait another ten minutes or so and he shows up. Meanwhile the crowd is still growing at the sight of two police cars and the foreigners in the middle of the crowd. Their superior takes our passport copies and they all keep discussing. We show them which apartment is ours, but Jordan said they have to be extra careful because we’re foreigners. As if that isn’t enough, ten minutes later, a fire truck shows up! Three firemen, wearing cameo, get out and talk to the police. By now there is at least twenty people standing around watching what’s going to happen. Jordan then translates for us “They can either break down your door, or you can wait for a locksmith.” We knew we didn’t want our door broken down so we were about to settle on the locksmith when someone asked if one of our windows were open. I said I’m almost positive that our living room windows were shut, but not locked.

So the firemen grab some rope and head up to the floor above us with the plan to repel down to our window, open it, and crawl though ( I thought a ladder might be easier but I wasn’t about to argue with the government). However, nothing about this night could be easy. No one lives in that apartment! So they went down to our floor and asked our neighbor’s if they could go out their window. They were hesitant at first, but eventually said yes. Before I know it, one fireman disappears out their window, followed by a second. I don’t know exactly what they did, but suddenly they come bursting out our door! Two police cars, three officers, three firemen and a fire truck later, we have success!! What an adventure, which hopefully we will not have to repeat. We gave a spare key to our friends tonight! I can’t explain how overwhelming it is to be surrounded by people talking so loud you can’t hear your own thoughts, having no idea what’s going on or what you’re going to do. But God is always in control. I was so thankful that Jordan walked by at the perfect time.